In a letter Wednesday, the Student Press Law Center encouraged Omaha Public Schools to endorse proposed legislation that would protect student press freedom in Nebraska.
The OPS board decided it would revisit its original opposition to Legislative Bill 1071 following comments at Monday’s school board meeting from several student journalists and a representative from the Nebraska High School Press Association in support of the bill. (Video of the public comments start at roughly 35:15.)
SPLC’s letter explained that the opposition of the state’s largest school district appears to be based on a misunderstanding of the law.
Legislative Bill 1071 would ensure that Nebraska’s high school and college student journalists determine the content published in school-sponsored media –– including newspapers, broadcasts and yearbooks –– and would protect them from censorship except in narrow, well-defined circumstances. The bill would also shield student media advisers from professional retaliation for refusing to unlawfully censor their students’ work.
Similar legislation, commonly called “New Voices” laws, has been adopted in 17 other states.
As explained by member Jane Erdenberger, the OPS board’s opposition to LB 1071 — and similar bills in prior years — is based in their belief that it would require student media outlets to publish all submitted content, including from members of the public.
In SPLC’s letter, Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand explained that this is a misunderstanding of both the New Voices bill and the First Amendment’s “public forum” doctrine.
Instead of creating a traditional public forum open to everyone, LB 1071 establishes a limited public forum, which “is created when the government intentionally opens the property for a particular class of speakers or for discussion on a specific topic.” Here, the forum is specifically opened for student journalists, “meaning that the student editors of a publication could decide if they wanted to open up their paper to submissions to those outside of their staff, but they are in no way required to do so.”
The letter also notes that award-winning journalism programs within the district have operated as designated public forums for years, meaning the bill would merely provide other Nebraskan students the same rights as those of OPS students.
“Your district is home to important and storied student journalism programs, and opposing legislation designed to bolster their work outwardly diminishes the pride you should have in them,” Hiestand wrote.
Demonstrating the need for a New Voices law, Nebraska has seen multiple incidents of student media censorship in recent years. This includes in the spring of 2022, when Northwest Public Schools in Grand Island shut down the high school student newspaper following the publication of stories addressing LGBTQIA+ issues. Former Northwest student journalist Marcus Pennell won the 2023 Courage in Student Journalism Award for challenging the district’s censorship.
Erdenberger said the OPS board’s legislative committee will continue to discuss its position on LB 1071. Hiestand offered SPLC’s help, should the board have further questions or concerns.
View the Letter
The Student Press Law Center (splc.org, @splc) is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit working at the intersection of education, journalism and the law to promote, support and defend the rights of student journalists and their advisers at the high school and college levels. The Student Press Law Center provides information, training and legal assistance at no charge to student journalists and their educators across the country.